The ability to recognize gender from biological motion can
be based on shape (morphology) or on movement (kinematics),
with the latter normally prevailing over the first.
We investigated this topic by using real point light walkers
stimuli recorded from healthy (H) and Parkinson’s disease
(PD) volunteers. Sensitivity was measured in nonexperts
(psychology students) and experts (physiotherapy students).
Results showed that expertise interacts with the
type of stimulus: Experts showed a comparable performance
with both H and PD stimuli, while nonexperts performed
significantly worst with PD stimuli. H and PD
stimuli provided same gender-specific morphological cues
(shoulder-to-hip ratio) but different gender-specific kinematic
cues (torso and pelvic movements), which were preserved
only in H stimuli. The results suggest that experts
can use morphology to accomplish the task when kinematic
cues are insufficient, while nonexperts’ judgments rely
predominantly on kinematics.
